All That Glitters Is Gold
by SomethingMoreCreative
Summary: Percy and Annabeth are best friends, but as swim season and the end of Senior Year approaches, they have to figure out what their feelings are for each other, especially as Percy considers a school that's a thousand miles away from home. Or, the one where Percy and Annabeth are meant to be together, and nothing can get in their way. Written for the pjohoominibang on tumblr.


**A/N: This fic was written for the pjohoominibang on tumblr, and you guys should go check out all of the other incredible pieces that were made for this event. Also nychie on tumblr made the beautiful art that goes with this fic, so you should check that out as well. The title is from All Star by Smash Mouth.**

 _-172016-_

Annabeth knows that something is wrong as soon as Percy sits down at the table. For one thing, his hands are shaking. His jaw is clenched tight. His knee is bobbing up and down, and he keeps fidgeting and running his hand through his hair every few seconds.

The cafeteria is loud, and all of the tables around them are full. It's their second semester of senior year, so everything is crazy. Sports are in full swing, and most of the students in their class are trying to pull their grades up for college scholarships. Annabeth isn't really worrying about it because she has already sent all of her applications out. She's hoping to get accepted into Columbia for Architecture, even though is it a few hours away from home.

Percy takes a deep breath suddenly, and Annabeth frowns, opening her mouth to ask him what's wrong.

Before she can, Jason slams his fist down onto the table, and Percy jumps, jerking his eyes up to the rest of their friends who are all staring at him.

"Okay, Percy, what's wrong?" Jason asks, sighing and turning away from Piper to face him. Jason and Percy have been friends for as long as Annabeth and Percy have, and the three of them have been friends since elementary school.

Percy scowls, his eyebrows bunching together and his face darkening. "Nothing."

Annabeth rolls her eyes next, "Then why are you fidgeting so much? You look like you're about to throw up."

After a few seconds, his scowl melts away, and his shoulders slump. When he looks up, he has a really terrified expression on his face.

"So we all remember that I did okay at the state tournament last year, right?" Percy says. His voice is quiet, and he isn't meeting any of their gazes, instead keeping his eyes fixated on his sandwich that his mom probably made for his lunch.

Jason and Annabeth both scoff. Jason says, "You came in _second place_ to a senior, you idiot. You did _great."_

Percy shrugs, "Okay. Well, I just had a meeting with Coach."

"And?" Annabeth asks.

Percy sighs again and hangs his head, "All of the sports papers in the state are projecting me to win State this year. _Me."_

"Percy, that's great!" Hazel exclaims from a few seats down the table. She was never one to hold her excitement. Annabeth smiles gratefully at her encouragement because god, Percy really needs it.

Annabeth has no clue why he's like this. She doesn't understand why he thinks that he's just another guy on the swim team when in reality, he's the best swimmer that they have at their school. And really, Annabeth isn't surprised that everyone is expecting him to win. He probably _is_ the best swimmer in the state.

They've been best friends since they were little. Percy and Annabeth met on the playground one day in the third grade, and they had been together ever since. After Annabeth's mom left, she and her dad moved into a house at the other end of Percy's neighborhood, which was actually really great because Annabeth doesn't know what she would have done if she hadn't been in walking distance of Sally and Percy. It's—it feels like they're her family more than her dad is sometimes.

"No, it's not," Percy says, snapping Annabeth back to the lunch table. "Everybody is expecting me to win, and Coach is looking at me like—"

He stops talking all of a sudden before he looks up at the rest of them. He shakes his head and smiles, but it looks fake. Annabeth can tell that it doesn't reach his eyes. He says, "Just forget it, guys. I'll be fine."

They all start protesting at once, but Jason just stares Percy down.

He snaps a few seconds later. He mumbles, "There are five scouts coming to my first swim meet."

"Percy!" Jason shouts, disrupting the whole lunchroom. Several people look over at their table curiously, but Leo makes a scathing comment that has their peers blushing and turning away. "Percy, that's _incredible."_

"No, it's not! It's awful!"

"Why is it awful?" Jason challenges.

"Because I'm nowhere _near_ ready!" Percy says, dropping his head toward the table. Annabeth reaches forward and pulls his lunch out of the way before his forehead connects with the flat surface. "I'm going to look awful. I wish that he hadn't told me. I wish that they weren't coming. I wish—"

"Percy," Jason warns. His voice is low, and he bends down lower so he could speak directly to him. "Everything is going to be fine. You're going to eat your lunch. You're going to let Annabeth walk you to your next class. You're going to go to practice, and you're going to kick _ass_ today. Then, when you get home, you're going to get back on that shitty workout thing that you do during swim season. There's no better time like the present to start. And _then_ you're going to meet us at Pollo's for study group at 5:30. Do you understand?"

Annabeth watches as Percy blinks up at Jason. The worry practically melts off of his face while he listens to him. Percy nods and leans back up, taking a long drink of his water.

"Thanks, man," Percy breathes. "I don't know what I would do without you."

Jason rolls his eyes, "Drown probably."

The rest of the table laughs, and Annabeth can feel the tension dissolve. They have all been worried about Percy for the past few days because he's been stressing over college and applications and—when Percy stresses, he internalizes it, and it eats away at him and Annabeth can't stand to see that look in his eyes.

Annabeth sends Percy a small smile over the table as Leo launches into a story about his mechanic class earlier, and Percy grins back at her.

Ω

"Annabeth!"

She turns to see Percy running toward her, weaving through a few cars and waving to some of his friends when he sees them. He catches her gaze, smiles, and continues to jog toward her car where she is waiting.

"Hi," she greets, tossing her backpack into the backseat of her car.

"Hey," he breathes, leaning against the car. His hair is damp, sticking up in several different places from where he has just dragged himself out of the pool. "Can you do me a favor?"

She nods, humming to herself and reaching up to brush her fingers through his hair to straighten it.

He grins crookedly, and Annabeth smiles too. He says, "I need you to take my math stuff with you tonight to Pollo's, if that's alright?"

Annabeth nods again and reaches out, taking his books from his hands when he offers them. "Why? I thought I was picking you up?"

He shakes his head, "I've got workouts, so I'm just going to meet you there."

"Okay," she drops his books down into the car beside her backpack. "I'll see you there."

He's already turning away, running back toward the gym as he waves and shouts, "Alright, Annabeth! Be careful!"

She laughs to herself before she gets in the car and drives home.

Ω

Annabeth parks her car a block away from Pollo's and walks, tightening her jacket around her to block out the wind. The sun is just barely setting now, but by the time they finishing "studying" it will be completely dark.

Their group normally meets three or four times a week at the little Mexican restaurant to study and do homework together. Leo knows the owner pretty well, so they always get to hang at a table up front by the window and eat cheese dip until they are ready to leave. It's really fun.

She walks into the restaurant and spots Piper, Jason, Hazel, and Leo already at their table. Nico isn't here, but sometimes he doesn't show up for study sessions. Annabeth grabs the chair across from Piper and falls down into her seat, shrugging out of her jacket all at the same time. She smiles at her friends and digs in her backpack until she pulls out her English paper and Percy's math book.

"Where's Percy?" Jason asks with a frown, glancing down at his stuff.

Annabeth blinks up at him, "He told me he had workouts and that he was meeting us here."

"That's weird," Jason mutters. His attention shifts back to Piper in the next second, asking her to help him draw a bicycle for an art project, so Annabeth isn't too worried.

Jason and Piper aren't _dating,_ but they are getting close. Of course, it's a high school cliché that the quarterback for the football team and the head cheerleader are best friends and together, but Jason and Piper are literally perfect for each other. Annabeth actually has a bet with Percy and Leo to see how long it will take them to get together.

She is editing her paper and rewriting over the draft when she hears Leo say, "Well, _that's_ where Percy is."

She turns around so she can see out of the window, and sure enough, Percy is sprinting down the other side of the street. Even though it is early February, he's missing his shirt. Annabeth assumes that he has a jacket tied around his waist.

She rolls her eyes, "He's going to get sick if he keeps running like that."

Before anybody says anything else, Percy jogs to a stop in front of the window. He looks inside and smiles at them, motioning that he will be inside in a second. He's obviously out of breath, and he takes a few steps away so he can stretch. Before long he is doubled over with his hands on his knees, but he stands back up before Annabeth gets too worried.

Percy unties his hoodie from around his waist and pulls it over his head. Annabeth watches his muscles shift as he moves his arms up, and she _really_ needs to stop thinking about him like this.

And it's not that she likes him like _that._ Except she does, and she refuses to acknowledge it. She's Percy's _best friend._ Nothing more.

"Hey, guys," Percy breathes as he walks inside. He grabs the seat next to Annabeth and falls down into it. He's still drawing in deep breaths through his nose, and his hair is damp with sweat.

"Where did you run from?" Jason asks, shifting his gaze to Percy again.

"Home," he says, leaning his head down on his hands. "And if you're wondering… it's at least five miles."

"How do you know?" Leo asks, throwing a chip at Piper and Hazel.

"Well it took me about thirty minutes to get down here, and it usually takes me about six minutes to run one mile, so I just kind of guessed," he says. "Next time I'll get one of those things on my phone. What are they called?"

"Pedometers," Annabeth says immediately, pretending that she just looked up from her essay to answer his question. She's not sure if he falls for it.

Percy grins at her, "Yeah. We should get me one of those."

"So that's all you did?" Jason asks. "Run five miles?"

Percy rolls his eyes and looks down at the table. Annabeth recognizes his bashful look, and she can see the blush crawling up his neck. It could be from his run, but Annabeth really doubts it. He says, "No. I did some push-ups and stuff."

"How many?" Jason says.

"Why are you so interested?" Percy shoots back. His tone is sort of playful, but Annabeth can hear the real question.

Jason rolls his eyes, "Because we all care about your well-being. Now tell us how many of these push-ups you did."

Percy sighs, "I did a hundred push-ups, but I only did fifty-five sit-ups. My abs are a lot weaker than I expected."

"They didn't _look_ weaker," Piper mutters from across the table.

And then Percy is blushing, and everyone else is laughing loudly. Annabeth is laughing too, and her chest is sort of hurting from being out of breath. Hazel is looking thoroughly scandalized at the end of the table, and that just adds fuel to the flame.

"This is why I don't tell you guys this stuff," Percy mutters. "You just make fun of me."

Annabeth rolls her eyes, "Percy, that was a compliment if anything. And we ask you because we care about you. We know that it helps you if you talk about it."

Jason nods along, but he looks at Annabeth like she stole his line. She looks back at him and shrugs.

Percy shrugs too and pulls his math book toward him. He looks up at Annabeth and says, "Thanks for bringing it with you."

She hums noncommittally to keep from saying something like _of course, you idiot, I would do anything for you._

The rest of the group takes that to mean that they are moving on. Hazel starts reading out loud, Leo orders them more cheese-dip, and Percy leans in closer to her. It's a good night.

Ω

"Hey," Percy says suddenly, falling into step at her shoulder as she walks to their history class. She wonders how he got out of English so quickly because he usually walks into class a bit late.

Annabeth jumps a bit, surprised to see Percy. She's always a little disoriented after her Calculus class, but she usually chills out as she walks to class.

"Hey," she says after a second. "What's up?"

"Mom wants to know if you're coming over for dinner tonight," he smiles a bit, grabbing the door and holding it open for her as they walk through the Math wing.

She nods, "Yeah, of course. Did you get your English paper finished last night?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm early. I went to turn it in this morning when I got here because I've been in the principal's office all period."

Annabeth has a horrible flashback to Percy's rebellious stage when they were in middle school. During those few years, he was constantly in the office, for punching this guy for that or that guy for this, and Annabeth finally got him to realize that he was being an idiot. To Annabeth's knowledge, he hasn't been back in trouble since then, but what if he's done something to mess up his college opportunities? No one is going to want him if he had been suspended! What was he going to do—?

Percy laughs suddenly, "I wasn't in trouble, Annabeth. Damn, you act like I killed somebody."

She swats him on the chest with her book. "Percy! Getting in trouble now could mess up everything you've been working for!"

He rolls his eyes, "I know, _Mom._ You didn't even let me tell you why I was actually there."

Annabeth huffs, "Why were you there?"

"Coach got an email from a scout at the University of Alabama. We were trying to figure out how much I need to pull my GPA up to be able to get in."

She feels her heart drop to her stomach. Alabama? Alabama is… _far_ away from New York.

Even though she feels like she could throw up right now, she keeps her voice steady when she says, "How much?"

"If I could get an A in AP History that would do it."

"Damn, Percy, we could get you an A in there," she scoffs, momentarily forgetting what the A might do. Where it might get Percy.

He slants his eyes at her. "You think so?"

"I know so."

He nods, but stays silent for the rest of their walk. He looks like he's thinking about something, and by the time Annabeth gets up the courage to ask about Alabama, they walk into class and have to start their lesson.

Annabeth takes notes automatically, but her mind wanders during the lesson. Instead of thinking about the Civil War, she thinks about Percy and Alabama, and how it's all the way at the other end of the country and how she's used to living five minutes away from him and how is she supposed to get through college without their friendship and and and—

She doesn't realize that class is over and that it's time to go to lunch until she sees Percy standing in front of her desk, saying her name. Most of their classmates have already filed out of the room, and Annabeth blinks quickly, trying to get the crushing pressure off of her chest. Percy might not go to Alabama. They still have time.

"You okay?" He asks. His eyebrows are scrunched together, and he looks like he knows exactly what she's freaking out about.

She nods and hurries to stand, "I'm fine. Just a little tired."

Percy nods too, leading the way to lunch and remaining silent at her shoulder.

They sit down with their friends, and Annabeth expects Percy to tell them about Alabama right away. He stays silent though everything, laughing along with Leo's story instead, which seems to make this whole situation more real.

The rest of the school day passes by sluggishly, like she's in a different world. She mindlessly shelves books in the library for an hour instead of helping the librarian sort through new books like she usually does just because her mind is racing. In Art, she draws out a sketch of Percy on accident, and she looks down in shock at it when she finishes. He's looking to the left, smiling and laughing, and it sends a shock through her body. When her teacher sees it, the older woman brushes her hand over the drawing softly, smiling down at Annabeth before moving back to the front of the room.

Annabeth considers ripping the drawing up, but it feels too special, so she gently tears it from her sketch book and folds it in half, placing it in her planner so she can get it out at home.

Ω

Annabeth walks down the street to Percy's after he sends her a text that lets her know he's home. They usually do homework and eat dinner with his mom before watching a few movies on Netflix.

Sally isn't home when Annabeth gets there, so she lets herself in, toeing out of her boots by the door and slipping her jacket off. She walks up the stairs and heads down the hallway to Percy's room.

She finds him standing in the middle of the messy, crowded room. He's staring at the wall, where he has a map of the United States haphazardly pinned up at eye level.

She tries to make her voice light, even though she knows. "What are you looking at?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" She asks, frowning at him.

Percy doesn't move his gaze away from the map. "I shouldn't have told you about Alabama like that. It's a lot."

The weight comes back to her chest suddenly, and it feels hard to breathe when Percy turns to look at her.

She manages a nod. "It's okay."

"I was excited about it at first," Percy starts, turning his eyes back to the map. "They have one of the best programs in the country and hearing that they wanted me… It made me forget about the other stuff."

"What other stuff?"

His green eyes are wide when he looks back to her. "Annabeth. Do you see how far away it is? Do you see how far from New York that is?"

She hears his other question in his voice. _Do you see how far away from you that is?_

But she nods because if their roles were reversed, she would want Percy to be supportive of her, and he would. Without a doubt. He would be right behind her, pushing her to go and have fun.

"It doesn't matter if that's where you want to go," she says. She takes the jump and continues, "We can make it work. We always do."

He sighs before he turns to her. He holds out his arms, and his voice is rough when he says, "C'mere."

Annabeth doesn't hesitate when she steps forward into Percy's arms. He pulls her against his chest, holding one hand flat against her back while letting the other tangle in her hair. She wraps her arms around his waist, holding him closer and burying her face in the crook of his shoulder. He smells like chlorine, which is something that's so familiar to Annabeth that it makes her heart hurt.

Her words are murmured against his chest when she says that everything is going to be okay, but she feels Percy's arms tighten around her, so she knows that he heard.

Ω

Percy starts studying a lot more. Thankfully, that means that Annabeth actually gets to see him because she's the one helping him study. They don't do much of anything else, and Percy gets more stressed as the days go on, especially as the beginning of swim season gets closer.

It scares Annabeth a bit, just because she isn't used to seeing Percy this stressed. Mostly because he doesn't get stressed, and when he does, it tends to stress Annabeth out too.

They get in a few fights. Slamming doors, stomping, crying, and yelling are common for a few days, but they always find each other a few hours later, prepared with an apology and a hug. Annabeth knows that they are both on edge because of all of the stuff going on right now, and it's okay because as long as he's beside her, she doesn't really mind anyway.

Most days, Percy picks her up for school, just because she can study in the gym while he stays late for swim practice. His team mates joke that they're attached at the hip, but she never sees Percy arguing with them. He usually blushes and turns around to grin at her, which makes Annabeth's heart do funny things in her chest while she blushes.

After Percy gets finished with swim practice, they usually go back to his house and study. If they aren't studying, sometimes they watch Netflix, and sometimes they waste time with Sally while she cooks dinner. It's great, and Annabeth wouldn't trade anything for it.

Swim season approaches too quickly, and all of a sudden, Annabeth is standing beside the pool again, for the last first time of the season, hugging Percy and pressing a kiss to his cheek for good luck and giving him a soft smile. She's the only one that is allowed to ever talk to him before a swim meet (Percy's rules, not hers), and even though he never says anything, he always holds her hand until he has to go to the locker room with the rest of the team.

Annabeth can tell that Percy is nervous as soon as he walks out of the locker room, but when he gets settled around the pool and peels his jacket off, he looks completely in his element. His competition face is dark and brooding, and he keeps his eyes focused on his coach's face unless he's staring at the water. He's up first, and when he's bending down to get ready to start, he looks up to meet Annabeth's eyes. She's already staring at him, and she gives him a full grin before falling into the cheers with the rest of the students in the stands. He huffs out a laugh for a second, but then he's all business again, staring down at the water and launching himself into it when the referee fires the gun.

Percy wins (obviously), and with all of the other swimmers winning too, their team wins. He's the last one out of the locker room tonight, and Annabeth hangs out in the bleachers by herself while she waits on him. Their friends are already headed to the after party at Rachel Dare's house, and Annabeth tells them that she will see them there when Percy gets out.

He's dressed in jeans and his team sweatshirt when he comes out of the locker room, dragging his bag behind him and smiling when he sees her. Annabeth throws herself at him, congratulating him on the win, and he squeezes her so tightly that he picks her up off of the ground. He whispers so many _thank you_ 's into her ear and hair that she loses count of them, but she's smiling and laughing too hard anyway.

They go to the after party for a few minutes, and Percy holds her hand the whole time while they shuffle around through their friends and his other team mates. Rachel winks at Annabeth on their way out, and she blushes, glad that Percy's dragging her to the car instead of paying more attention to her face like he had been being earlier.

When they get home, Sally is already asleep. She had been at the meet with her new boyfriend, Paul, who also happens to be Annabeth's AP Literature teacher. Percy pulls her up the stairs behind him, and they both drop onto his bed, him groaning about his sore arms the whole way because he knows if he grumbles enough, Annabeth will stay and hold his hand and play with his hair until he falls asleep.

"Annabeth," Percy murmurs, slanting his eyes up at her from where his head is resting on her chest.

"Yeah?" She says softly, running her fingers through Percy's hair and down his neck.

"Thank you," he says, blinking tiredly at her. "Don't know what I would do without you."

Her throat feels tight, but she smiles because he's her best friend and she doesn't know what she would do without him either. "Go to sleep, Seaweed Brain."

He hums something else, and Annabeth watches him until he falls asleep, and she presses her lips against his forehead when she gets up to go downstairs and crash on the couch a few hours later.

Ω

"Annabeth," her teacher says suddenly. The woman is holding an envelope out to her from where she is standing at her desk, and Annabeth feels her stomach lurch when she gets spots the return address from her desk in the middle of the classroom.

She's up out of her seat in two seconds, rushing toward the front of the room and taking the letter in her hands. She's shaking when she opens it, and then she's nearly crying because she's been _accepted._

To Columbia. She's been accepted to her _dream school._

Annabeth isn't sure that she's read it right, and she can't really breathe right now. She looks up to her art teacher, who is smiling and congratulating her and Annabeth can't believe any of this.

"I have to tell…" Annabeth stammers. "Can I go—I need to…"

Her art teacher motions for her to go, and Annabeth dashes out of the room, skidding into the hallway before she takes off running.

No one stops her, maybe because she probably looks like she's about to start crying, but she breaks through the gym doors, shouting, "Percy! Percy!"

His coach looks up instantly, frowning when he sees her. He sighs, mostly because he knows that she's about the most important thing in the world to Percy, and she'll be damned if she doesn't get to see him right now and _tell him._

As she is running forward, another senior and one of Percy's closer swim team friends, Will Solace, yells to a younger guy on the team, who grabs Percy from where he's swimming laps. He looks up immediately, eyes scanning the gym until he finds her. She's still running, and Percy has time to hurriedly haul himself out of the pool and step away from the edge before she launches herself at him.

He doesn't stumble, and instead, he catches her easily, wrapping his arms around her and pushing her back enough so he can see her face. He looks worried, and he uses one of his hands to push her hair behind her ear, cupping her cheek and saying, "Hey, what's wrong? What's wrong?"

She hits him on the back of the head and shoves the letter in his face. "Nothing! I got accepted, Percy! To _Columbia!"_

He looks confused for half of a second, and then his face dissolves into a huge grin, a smile that he usually reserves for her, and she's just so happy that she's about to start crying.

He hugs her tight, spinning her around in a circle. They're both laughing loudly, and Percy is saying, "I _knew_ you could do it, Annabeth! I'm so proud of you."

Percy sets her down on the ground after a few seconds, and when she looks up at him, he's still smiling down at her and there are water droplets hanging from his hair and face and everything is just so _real_ that Annabeth wants to lean up on her tiptoes and kiss him.

He hugs her close again, "Annabeth. This is _amazing._ You're amazing. I'm so fucking proud of you."

She grips his back, huddling close against his chest even though he's dripping wet. She leans her head up on his shoulder, and she can see the rest of his team gathered beside the pool a few yards away. His coach is standing with them, rolling his eyes and snapping at the other guys to get back to work. Annabeth feels her face get red because she interrupted their practice, so she hides her eyes against Percy's skin, sighing when he tightens his arms around her.

"Two minutes, Jackson," his coach calls a few seconds later. "And thanks for joining us today, Annabeth."

She laughs slightly, blushing harder when she looks up at him. "Sorry, Coach."

"She got into Columbia, Coach! It's not like she couldn't come tell me about it!" Percy nearly shrieks. He's still laughing, but he lets her slip out of his grip when she starts to step back.

"Sorry to interrupt," she apologizes, tucking one of her curls behind her ear. "I was so excited, and when I got the letter, I had to tell you so I—"

"Don't be sorry," he says, smiling even wider and leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead. "We're celebrating tonight, Annabeth. Whatever you want, okay?"

She nods, and Percy whispers, "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you," she breathes.

A few minutes later, Annabeth manages to walk out of the gym with some of her dignity and a blush on her face. The front of her t-shirt and her jeans are both soaked with water from Percy, and she ignores the catcalls that she gets when she leaves so Percy can get back to practice. But getting to see that look on his face, the one that is reserved for her, the grin with teeth and dimples and _beauty_ , is worth all of the embarrassment in the world.

Ω

Annabeth is so excited about Columbia that she gets on a bus after school and heads downtown to her dad's office. Thankfully, he's there, and he gives her a tired and happy smile after he reads the letter, standing up to offer her a hug. It's—it's awesome to have this support from Percy and her dad, and she doesn't know what she would do without them.

Her dad takes her to dinner to celebrate. They invite Percy, but he has to stay late at school for workouts. After they get finished with dinner and they get back home, Percy picks her up at the door with a bouquet of flowers. He blinks at her softly when he presents her with the white lilies (her favorite), and she presses a kiss to his cheek before she takes them from his hands and puts them in a vase in the kitchen.

"Ready to go?" He asks with a smile.

"Where are we going?"

Percy carefully takes her hand and slowly pulls her out of the door and down the sidewalk. He opens the door to his Jeep and helps her inside, leaning over her to buckle her seatbelt even though she is completely capable of doing it herself.

Something feels different when Percy gets into the driver's seat and turns to smile at her. He's grinning at her softly, looking at her like there's no place he would rather be, and Annabeth can only take so much before she feels like her heart will explode from feelings. He smiles like he knows exactly what she's thinking before he slips the car into drive and presses the gas pedal.

They end up at her favorite diner, and Percy leads her inside, grasping her hand gently. They split an order of fries, and Annabeth orders a strawberry shake while Percy gets a chocolate one. He brags to their waitress about her getting accepted into Columbia, and Annabeth blushes and kicks his legs under the table.

Later that night, Percy takes her back home. He hugs her on the front porch for almost five minutes, and when he pulls back, he presses a kiss to her forehead, whispering, "I'm so proud of you, Annabeth. You're so smart and beautiful, and I knew you could do it."

She doesn't know what to say, so she hugs him tight before she slips out of his arms and watches as he gets back in his Jeep to drive home.

Ω

"Percy, stop moving!"

He wiggles underneath her, making the black marker slip where she was trying to write the names of his back muscles. They have an anatomy test tomorrow, and Percy is the one who suggested they write on him. She's not sure who this is really benefiting because she catches Percy humming softly when she traces her fingers over his skin, and she's way too distracted by his muscles and body to actually care about studying.

At least it's anatomy. That makes it a bit more interesting.

"You're awful," she sighs, turning the stray mark into a swirl, then turning the swirl into her name.

"You love me," he hums into her pillow. They're sprawled out across her bed, and Annabeth is sitting on his back as she bends over him to write out the names of his back muscles across his skin while she reads out loud from their anatomy book.

She scribbles a heart onto his shoulder blade before cuffing him on the back of the head, "Sometimes."

His laugh makes her smile, and they fall silent while Annabeth continues to label him.

Something has been different between them lately. Annabeth catches Percy staring at her for longer than usual, and his eyes usually hang on her lips for a few seconds after her smile slips away. He holds her hand when they walk in the hallways on their way to class. He slips an arm over her shoulders when they watch movies. And it's—it's not like he didn't do that stuff before, but over the past week, something just seems… different.

Jason notices it. They're in Calculus one day when he asks her about it.

She blushes, "What do you mean?"

"What's going on with you and Percy?" He asks again. "You guys act like you're dating, but I thought you would have told me instead of keeping it a secret."

"We're not dating," she answers honestly. "I wouldn't keep that from you, Jason. You're our best friend."

The _our_ slips out before she notices it. Jason rolls his eyes when he hears it.

"Well I know that," he explains with a slight smile. "But something's different."

Things don't go back to normal. This weird phase hangs around Percy and Annabeth all through swim season and as Percy wins all of his swim meets. They don't acknowledge it, not even when Percy comes dangerously close to dropping a kiss to her lips one night after a swim meet.

Annabeth doesn't exactly mind, she just wonders when the breaking point for them will be and how it will happen.

A few days later, Annabeth is sitting in her room working on an essay that is due in a few when she realizes that she hasn't talked to Percy at all today. She saw him earlier in class, and they walked together like normal, but he had been quiet all day, just nodding along and smiling with whatever she or their friends had said.

She sends him a text, asking him what he's doing, but when he doesn't answer in almost two hours, she frowns and grabs her jacket before slipping outside and walking down the street.

Sally is inside cooking dinner when Annabeth lets herself in. Percy's mom smiles and pulls her in for a hug immediately, congratulating her again on getting accepted to Columbia.

"Thanks," Annabeth says. "Is Percy okay? He hasn't been answering his phone."

Something in Sally's eyes changes, and she says, "He's upstairs. You probably want to go check on him."

Annabeth isn't sure why she sounds nervous, but Annabeth just nods and accepts Sally's offer to stay for dinner before climbing the stairs and heading down the hallway to Percy's room.

It's dark and empty when she gets there, but the window is open, which lets a cool breeze drift through the room. Annabeth grabs an extra hoodie from his closet and slips it on over her light jacket before she easily climbs out of the window.

Percy's sitting on the rooftop just a few feet away, leaning back and staring up at the sky. He's wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, and his black hair is ruffled from the wind. She wonders why he's out here because the rooftop is a place they usually reserve for really emotional and deep conversations, like the breakup Percy and Rachel went through or when Annabeth's mom left.

"Hey," she says softly, sitting down a few inches from him.

He doesn't say anything, but he hands her an envelope.

Her throat feels tight when she sees the red emblem on the front of it. It gets worse when she finishes the letter.

"Percy," Annabeth breathes, looking over at him. "This is amazing. They're offering you a full scholarship."

"It's Alabama."

"Roll Tide, huh?" She offers lightly.

He lets out a small laugh before looking up at her. "They have a great program, and it would be incredible to go down there and stuff, but…"

"But?"

"It's fifteen hours from home."

Annabeth nods, "But is it your first choice?"

He shakes his head. "No. NYU is, but they haven't offered anything yet. What if they don't offer anything at all, and what if I don't take this one and I lose it? I can't go to school without swimming, Annabeth. It's my only chance."

"You're not going to lose it, okay?" She starts. "But if NYU hasn't offered you anything, maybe you should think about going to visit Alabama. You might like it better once you actually get down there."

He levels his gaze at her. "Annabeth. It's like a thousand degrees down there, and will they even let you in if you don't know how to shoot a gun or drive a tractor? I can't do any of that stuff!"

She swats him with the letter before she says, "Don't be an idiot, Seaweed Brain. None of those are the reasons you don't want to go."

He's quiet for a few seconds, and he turns his gaze out to look at the sky. The sun is setting over the neighborhood, leaving the sky is weird hues of red, orange, and purple. The soft light is highlighting Percy's skin, and she wonders when he grew up from the short, small kid he used to be.

"It's fifteen hours away from home, Annabeth," he says quietly. "I don't know if I can… I don't want to be that far from Mom, and I know that she has Paul and stuff now, but I want to be close to her, you know? And you're going to Columbia, and I want…"

She lets the silence hang between them for a few seconds before she says, "Percy, even if you go to Alabama for school, we're still going to be best friends. And sure, it will be hard, and I definitely want to be close to you too, but we can make it work. You need to go to school where you want to, not because of me."

"It's not _because_ of you," he scoffs slightly. "That sounds like you're making me do this. I know that we'll still be friends and stuff, but I really don't know if I can handle that much distance between us. At least if I was in the same state—"

Percy stops talking suddenly, and Annabeth scoots a bit closer to him.

"I don't want to be that far away," he continues a few seconds later. "I know that we're both going to be busy and stuff, and even if I was in New York, I probably wouldn't get to see you that much, but it's the distance that is scaring me. That's over a thousand miles, Annabeth."

"One thousand and fifty-three," she mumbles.

He's staring at her when she looks back up.

"You… you know that?"

She sighs, fidgeting with the sleeve of her hoodie that belongs to Percy. "I Googled it when you first told me about it in the hallway that day."

Percy's eyes are wide when he looks at her, and his voice is deep when he finally speaks. "You really think we could make it?"

"I _know_ it. You're my best friend, Percy. You're it for me."

Annabeth doesn't really catch the weight of what she's said until it's already out of her mouth, but the way Percy is staring at her makes her wish that he would look at her like that all of the time.

He finally reaches out and takes her hand in his, weaving their fingers together and pulling her body a bit closer to his. His voice is rough when he says, "You're it for me too, Annabeth."

"No matter what," she says firmly, burrowing into his side. "Even if you go to school a million miles away, we'll still be us."

Percy nods easily, letting out a heavy breath. He slips an arm around Annabeth's waist and holds her tighter. He murmurs into her hair when he says, "Don't know what I would do without you, 'Beth."

She laughs lightly, "Me either, Seaweed Brain."

They watch as the sun sets over the neighborhood, turning the sky darker and darker, until Annabeth can barely see the green of Percy's eyes. She has her head resting against his chest, and she can hear his heart beating right underneath her ear. She closes her eyes, nestles closer to him, and listens as he hums quietly. It's nice, and it's even better when Percy helps her back into his room and they go downstairs to eat dinner with Sally.

Ω

"You guys really are attached at the hip these days," Jason says as he climbs into the Jeep. Annabeth has already slipped into the backseat so Jason can sit up front with Percy. They are picking him up from home so they can go get some lunch since they finally have some free time that coincides with each other.

Annabeth laughs as Percy says, "We have to be because you run off with Piper these days."

Jason blushes, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. He mutters, "Oh, whatever, Jackson."

Percy laughs as he turns the radio up.

Since they talked about Alabama a few weeks ago, she thinks that Percy has been feeling better. He hasn't been as stressed as he was earlier, and he's been doing better at practice too. She wonders if it was just the thoughts that were scaring him because really, they were scaring her too until they talked it out.

Jason, on the other hand, is going to a college out in California on a football scholarship. He's going on his own, but their friend Piper is going to a college that is only a few hours from him, so they will be relatively close. Annabeth is thankful that they'll be able to see each other because she doesn't want Jason to be on his own too much.

"So what's really going on with you and Piper?" Percy asks when they get seated by the window at their favorite restaurant. Annabeth is sitting beside Percy, and Jason is on the other side of the booth, looking at them from across the table.

"I could literally ask the same thing about you guys," Jason deadpans. He pretends to be uninterested, but his face is a little red at the mention of Piper.

Percy shrugs before Annabeth can respond. "Don't know what you're talking about, Grace. Now come on, I have money riding on this. I need to know."

Annabeth hits Percy across the chest, "Or, you know, you could say something a little more supportive."

"Come on, Annabeth," Percy says, rolling his eyes. "We all know that you're the nice one and I'm the nosy one. Now, spill, Jason."

Jason sighs heavily. "I don't know."

"You don't know what's going on, or you don't know what to tell?"

"I'm thinking about asking her to prom."

"That's great!" Annabeth exclaims just as Percy says, "Is that all?"

Jason huffs out a laugh, lowering his head toward the table and thanking the waiter quietly when he refills their drinks. "I don't know, guys. I like her, and I want to date her but… I don't want to lose her?"

"Yeah," Percy says. He's staring down at the table too, looking up at Jason but avoiding Annabeth's eyes. "Yeah, I get that."

Annabeth gives Percy a weird look before she says, "Yeah, but I don't think that would happen. Besides, I'm pretty sure she likes you too, Jason."

"Yeah, I guess," Jason mutters. "It still makes me nervous."

Annabeth glances over at Percy, and the look on his face makes her change the topic suddenly. For the rest of lunch, they sit together and laugh and talk until the waiter gives them dirty looks for staying so long. It's nice, and Annabeth wouldn't trade her two best friends for anything.

Ω

She's in the library when her phone rings loudly, causing the guy a few tables away to look up at her and glare.

"Sorry," she mutters, hurrying to answer it. "Hello?"

"Annabeth!" It's Sally on the other side of the line, and she sounds frantic, saying Annabeth's name loudly and quickly.

"Hey, it's me. Is everything okay?" She asks, ducking her head down to the table to try and be quieter. She hates when people talk on the phone in the library but Sally sounds weird and—

"Percy is in the hospital," Sally says urgently, and Annabeth realizes that she sounds like this because she has been crying. "Can you go down there? His coach called and said he was going too, but I don't want him to wake up alone and I can't get there right now because I'm stuck here and—"

"Yeah, of course," Annabeth says, already standing up and shoving her stuff down into her backpack. She runs toward the doors, ignoring the strange looks that she gets from the librarian and other people around her. "I'm on my way there right now. Is he okay? What happened?"

Annabeth feels her heart crawl into her throat while Sally explains that Percy had been in practice, running on the treadmill when he passed out. He had hit his head too, and because of the oxygen restrictor that he had been training with, his oxygen levels were too low. They took him in an ambulance, and Sally explains that she already called the airport and that she can't get a flight home until tomorrow.

"Okay, wait," Annabeth says. She's driving to the hospital now, talking to Sally through the Bluetooth speakers in her car. "Before you do that, let me go check on Percy. If he's doing okay, you should stay. You've been waiting for this book tour for a year, Sally. I'll call you as soon as I get there."

Sally agrees and hang up, and Annabeth presses the gas pedal harder. She _needs_ to get to Percy _now._

She calls Jason on the way and leaves him a voicemail because he's not answering right now. She suspects that he's out with Piper somewhere, maybe at the movies, but he will call her back as soon as he can.

She finally makes it to the hospital, jamming the car in park and jumping out to run to the doors. She has to plead with the front desk to let her back, and she uses the word _boyfriend_ without even thinking about it. She thinks that _soulmate_ might be more precise, but she doubts it would be able to get her back to actually see him.

His coach spots her before she sees him, and he steers her into Percy's hospital room, talking about something that Annabeth doesn't catch because of the blood rushing into her ears.

She runs into the room, stopping suddenly when she sees him. He is laying in a hospital bed with an oxygen mask on his face. There are several wires connected to his bare chest, and there is an I.V. sticking out of his left arm. His eyes are closed, but his chest is moving up and down, so Annabeth guesses that it's a good thing. He still has his jeans on, but they must have cut off his shirt. There is a monitor to the left of his hospital bed that is measuring his heartbeat, and the loud, consistent beeps calm Annabeth's nerves a little.

"The doctor is supposed to be in in a few minutes," Percy's coach says, breaking her out of her trance. "I'm going to call his mother."

Annabeth nods, waiting as he slips outside before taking steps closer to Percy. She slowly sits down in the chair beside his hospital bed and takes his hand in both of hers.

"Percy," Annabeth sighs, voice wobbling. "Please be okay."

Minutes pass as Annabeth stares at Percy. The side of his face is bruising, and there's a small cut on his lip that Annabeth can see underneath the oxygen mask resting on his face. His coach comes back into the room a few minutes later, and before long, Jason runs into the room too.

He dashes to Annabeth's side, and she lets her hand slip out of Percy's so she can hug him. He's saying something, and Annabeth has to tell him to slow down and start over.

"I'm sorry I didn't answer the phone," he says, pulling back to look down at Percy. "I was out with Piper and—I should have answered because I should have been here with you—"

"Hey," Annabeth says, reaching out for his hand. She takes Percy's free hand with her other one and holds on tight. "It's okay, Jason. Everything is okay."

It tastes like a lie, but she refuses to think of anything else.

The doctor comes in before too long, announcing that Percy is going to be okay and that he will probably wake up in a little while. A weight is lifted off of Annabeth's chest with the news, and she and Jason call Sally and put her on speaker phone to talk to the doctor.

"Annabeth," Sally says shakily, after the doctor has left the room. Her voice is distorted through the speaker of the phone so it makes her sound more upset than she probably is. "I hate to ask you to look after him, but I still can't get a flight home and—"

"No, Sally, it's fine," she interrupts, clutching Percy's hand in hers. His eyes are still closed, but his breathing is more regular now. Watching his chest rise and fall makes her feel more at ease. "You only have another day left anyway. We'll be fine until you get here. I won't leave him."

Sally pauses for a minute, and Annabeth swears that she's crying even harder now as she agrees. Annabeth knows that it must be awful because she doesn't want Percy to be here without her, but she's been waiting a year for her book tour, and it's almost over. Annabeth can take care of Percy until then.

Because Percy is the star swimmer, his coach hangs out in the room with them for a while. He's concerned, asking the doctor and nurses every question he can think of, but thankfully, he doesn't ask when Percy will be able to practice again. If he does, Annabeth will probably stand up and punch him in the nose.

Annabeth and Jason sit at Percy's side for a few hours, watching TV in the corner and talking quietly when they think of something to say. She doesn't really feel like talking, but the silence while Percy sleeps is almost unbearable. Even though the doctor told them that Percy was going to be okay, Annabeth won't believe it until she actually gets to talk to him.

After a long period of time, Annabeth feels something squeeze her hand. She snaps her head down, and the breath leaves her lungs when she sees Percy's eyes open.

She holds his hand tighter, scooting closer so she can lean over him. His green eyes are held open sluggishly, but he blinks a few times, and he looks more alert after a few seconds.

He twists his head to the side, and his eyes are wider now. Percy is saying something that Annabeth can't understand because of the oxygen mask on his face, but by the way Percy's shifting and muttering, Annabeth can tell that he's about to panic.

She leans over him, brushing his hair away from his forehead and pressing his hand to her chest so he can feel her heartbeat. She keeps her voice soft when she says, "Percy, everything is fine. You had an accident at practice, and we're in the hospital. The doctor says that you're going to be fine in a few hours."

Percy says something else that Annabeth doesn't understand because of the oxygen mask, but she can see the question in his eyes and she says, "I won't leave you here, okay? I'm not going anywhere."

He lets out a rough breath, and Annabeth catches his wince when he rests back against the pillows. Percy squeezes Annabeth's hand again, and she leans up to press a kiss to his forehead, letting her lips linger for a few extra seconds just because of how scared she was earlier.

Jason leans up to talk to Percy too, telling him that his coach is outside but that his mom isn't here. Percy nods, like he knew that, and he grips Annabeth's hand tighter.

Annabeth and Jason keep talking to him, and Annabeth moves up to sit on the edge of Percy's hospital bed so she can run her fingers through his hair. He's still gripping her other hand, and he's running his thumb over the skin there.

"Oh," Jason says suddenly, shoving a hand through his blonde hair and staring at the wall. "I didn't answer when you called the first time, Annabeth, because I was out on a date with Piper. Thought you guys might find that interesting."

Annabeth squeaks excitedly, laughing as Jason starts to blush. The oxygen mask on Percy's face fogs up from his soft laughter, and he lets go of Annabeth's hand for a few seconds so he can fist bump Jason.

"You won the bet, didn't you, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asks mischievously, claiming his hand again when he holds it up to her.

Jason blanches, "What bet?"

Annabeth sees the traces of a grin on Percy's face underneath the mask.

Another few minutes later, a nurse comes in to see that Percy's awake, and they take the oxygen mask off of his face. There are rough, red lines around his nose and mouth, and Percy sits up carefully, frowning and pressing his hand to his chest.

Annabeth stands up, hands fluttering over his shoulders and back as the nurse explains that Percy's chest is going to be sore for a few days and that he should rest while they get his paperwork finished up so they can go home.

"You okay?" Annabeth asks when the nurse leaves the room.

Percy nods, and his voice is hoarse when he says, "Hard to breathe. What… happened?"

"You were at practice, running on the treadmill with the oxygen restrictor, and you passed out," Annabeth says slowly. "They brought you here in an ambulance."

He nods again, "And they… they called you?"

"Your mom did. She can't get a flight back until tomorrow, and the tour is over the next day so I told her that I could stay with you instead of her leaving early," Annabeth explains.

"Yeah," Percy lets out a long breath, frowning in pain. Annabeth presses one of her hands to his back, and he nods. "Feels better."

Annabeth holds him close for a few seconds, dropping another kiss to the side of his face just because she's still shaking from being so worried earlier.

The nurses come back almost an hour later, leaving an inhaler in Annabeth's hands for Percy to use if his chest feels too tight. They say that he should start feeling better over the next few days and that he can start practicing again at the end of the week. Percy looks relieved after that, and when Jason steps outside to tell Percy's coach that they're going home, Percy slumps into Annabeth's arms.

"Hey," she says immediately, looking down at his face. "Are you alright?"

"Just tired," he mumbles. "Don't leave me."

Annabeth hugs him tightly. "I'm not going anywhere, Percy."

Ω

"Annabeth?"

She looks up from her phone to see Percy standing in the doorway to the living room. He is clutching a blanket around his shoulders, hunching over against the cold air in the room. He has a pair of sweatpants on, but because of the soreness in his chest, he is missing a shirt. Annabeth can still see the places on his skin where they had tapped wires to him in the hospital.

"You should be sleeping, Percy," she chastises softly. She had sent him upstairs twenty minutes ago to hopefully get some rest because he looked like hell. She has been with Percy ever since they let him out of the hospital, driving him home in her car and helping him get into the shower while hovering over him to make sure he is okay.

"I can't sleep up there," he mutters, staring down at the ground "Can… Can I stay in here with you?"

"You'll feel better if you sleep in your own bed," she argues softly, standing up and walking toward him. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to be by myself," he whispers, tears gathering in his eyes. "My chest hurts."

Annabeth cups his cheek in one hand, careful to avoid the bruises on the other side of his face, and Percy leans into her. His eyes close, and Annabeth pushes his blanket back up onto his shoulders.

"I can come upstairs with you if you want," she offers, brushing his hair off of his forehead.

He nods quickly, reaching out for her hand and lacing his fingers with hers.

Annabeth grabs her phone from where she left it on the couch before she starts up the stairs, gently pulling Percy behind her. He's quiet the whole way, shuffling behind her silently. She can still hear him breathing roughly, and she wonders if she should be worried about it or if she should call the doctor.

They get to his room before she can decide, and she crawls into his bed, pulling back the sheets and slipping into them. Percy follows her, and he curls against her side and lays his head against her chest. His arms are loose at her sides, and he clutches his fists into her t-shirt, pulling her shirt up enough until her skin brushes his.

"Annabeth?" Percy murmurs, burying his face into her side.

"What is it, Percy?"

"I'm scared."

Her voice catches, "Why?"

"What if I don't wake up?"

Annabeth wraps her arms around him, holding him closer and pressing his face against her chest. Her voice is soft when she says, "Hey, I won't let that happen, okay? I'm right here, and you're not getting away from me."

Percy nods, and before long, he falls asleep pressed against her.

Ω

Taking care of Percy reminds of her when they were little, and it also makes her wonder if they will be doing this for the rest of their lives.

He gets better slowly, and he clings to Annabeth, refusing to sleep unless she's beside him. Even after his mom gets home, he doesn't want Annabeth to leave, and because of the terrified look he gets right before he goes to sleep, she doesn't have the heart to anyway. Most nights she stays until he falls asleep, and then she heads downstairs to tell Sally goodnight before driving back home. If it's really late, then she usually sleeps on the couch, which is nice because then she gets to see Percy all grumpy and sleepy in the mornings.

At the end of the next week, Percy is supposed to get back to swimming. Annabeth is in the gym with him and his coach, and she's sitting on the edge of the pool with her legs in the water. Percy's already changed into his speedo, but he's hovering on the concrete right above the water, muscles taunt, face dark, like he's afraid of getting in.

"Hey," Annabeth says playfully. "As much as I like your outfit, I don't have all day."

Percy turns his stare to her, and his eyes are still dark. He doesn't sound amused when he says, "Annabeth."

She sighs and gets to her feet, walking over to him and wrapping her arms around him from behind and laying her head on his back. She feels some of the tension ease out of his shoulders, but he doesn't move.

"I'm going to let go and count to three, and then you're going to dive in, okay?" Annabeth says, squeezing him tight for a few seconds.

She feels him nod, and she slips her arms away from him. Her voice is loud as she counts to three, and Percy doesn't hesitate when he jumps forward into the water. She leans over the edge of the pool, laughing when Percy comes up right under her face.

He's grinning as she laughs, but when he glances down at her lips, Annabeth freezes.

His voice is low, "Annabeth."

"Percy—"

Before he can lean up any farther so he can press his lips to hers, his coach steps out from his office, calling out orders for Percy to do laps. He flinches when he realizes how close they were, swimming away and leaving Annabeth dazed.

When they get ready to leave later, Percy doesn't say anything about almost kissing her, and Annabeth figures that it doesn't matter anyway.

Ω

They continue like this for a few weeks. It's this weird place where Percy hugs her almost every time that he sees her, but he always hesitates when he leans down, like he's going to press his lips to hers. It's weird because Annabeth holds his hand whenever they are together, but she avoids his eyes when they're alone because she doesn't want to stare at him too long.

She wonders where the breaking point is and if she will make it that long.

Percy gets back into swimming as easily as breathing, and the bruises on his face vanish and fade just like his fear of not waking up does. He's doing a lot better now, which is a relief for Annabeth.

"How's Percy doing?" Jason asks one day at school. They're sitting in Calculus, working on some homework while their teacher dozes in the back of the room.

"He's…" Annabeth sighs and drops her pencil to the desk. "I don't really know how he is, to be honest. It seems like he wants to…"

"Finally ask you to be his girlfriend?" Jason says with a slight smirk.

She scowls, "Shut up."

"But?"

She sighs, "But _yes._ It seems like that, but every time he gets close to kissing me or… or _whatever,_ he doesn't and then he gets all weird about it. I know him better than anybody, but I can't figure out why he's doing this."

Jason is staring at her, eyebrows pulled together and glasses sliding down his nose. He says, "Annabeth. Do you not remember how I didn't want to ask Piper out just because I didn't want to lose our friendship?"

She nods, "Yeah, but Percy isn't going to lose me—"

He interrupts. "Does he know that?"

"I've told him that a hundred times already! Jason—"

"But does he _know it?"_

Annabeth falls silent at his insistent questioning, wondering where he's even going with those thoughts. Of course Percy knows that they're friends and that he won't lose her. She doesn't understand how he can even think that—

"I mean," she starts slowly, trying to think. "I'm pretty sure he does. I'm his best friend, and why would I go anywhere just because he has feelings for me?"

Jason shrugs, looking back down at his paper before erasing the last thing he wrote. "I don't know, Annabeth, but Percy's always been so down on himself, you know? He hardly has any self-confidence, so why would he believe that you had feelings for him?"

She pauses, staring at him. "But it's so obvious—"

Jason laughs suddenly, "To everyone _except_ Percy, maybe. Just tell him how you feel, Annabeth. And if you don't want to tell him how you really feel right now, then just tell him that you aren't going anywhere. He'll figure it out someday."

She glares playfully, "Yeah, just like you did with Piper, right?"

"Right," he says with a grin.

Ω

Percy's been quiet all day, and Annabeth knows it's because tomorrow is his first swim meet that counts for his state record. The other meets have been with teams out of district, but this team is their main rival.

They're sitting on the couch at his house, watching TV while his mom works in her study. Percy has been holding her hand since they got home, and Annabeth has been on edge the whole time. Percy's throwing her off, and ever since her talk with Jason, she doesn't really know what to say to him.

 _Just tell him how you feel._

It's not really a surprise that the voice in her head is Jason's.

After another hour, Percy still hasn't said anything to her, and Annabeth sighs suddenly, standing up and jerking on his hand until he follows her to his feet.

His eyebrows are furrowed in confusion, and his voice is low when he says, "Annabeth?"

"You know that you're never going to lose me, right?"

Percy's expression shifts from confusion to surprise, and she watches as he gazes at her. His scowl disappears and he pulls his other hand up to touch her jaw. After a few seconds, he nods, "Is something wrong?"

She shakes her head, "No. I just wanted you to know."

He gives her a small smile, and one of his hands slips up to the back of her neck to pull her forward. He presses a kiss to her forehead and murmurs, "Alright, Annabeth."

Ω

Swim season plows ahead quickly, and Percy wins everything he competes in. The only downside about him being so focused on swimming so he can get offers to other schools is not seeing him as often as she would like. And even when she does see him, he's usually always tired, so he normally holds her hand and lays his head in her lap until he dozes to sleep.

It's not that she really minds, she just misses him.

As the state tournament gets closer, Percy starts missing lunch to practice. Annabeth gets onto him for it at first, standing over him while he shoves a sandwich into his mouth as they sit on the side of the pool in the gym. She's technically not supposed to leave the cafeteria, but no one dares to say anything about it, not when Percy is so adamant about seeing her. And of course, anything that Percy wants he gets because of how hard he's been working for their swim team.

They're at a swim meet at a school about two hours from home one Friday night, and Annabeth and her friends all carpool together so they can go watch Percy. When they get there, they line up on the front row of the bleachers, ignoring all of the gross looks that the students from the other school give them.

When Percy comes out of the locker room and grins up at them, it's worth all of the trouble they went to for coming.

It's a closer meet than any of the others, but Percy still wins, which pushes their team into first place. Annabeth stays behind after the meet is over with their friends and waits until Percy comes out of the showers. Some of the other swimmers from the other team are still coming out of their locker room, and when Percy finally walks out, Annabeth throws herself at him, laughing and twisting her arms around him while congratulating him on the win. He sighs, picking her up off of the ground to hold her closer.

Annabeth feels his arms stiffen around her when someone says, "Hey, Jackson."

Percy pulls back, setting Annabeth back on the ground but keeping his arm twisted around her waist and tucked into his side.

It's the captain from the other team talking to them. He has a sneer on his face as he stares at them, and his oily blonde hair is still dripping. He says, "Nice eye candy."

Percy's hand tightens on Annabeth's hip. She scowls at the other guy, but before she can tell him to fuck off, Percy growls, "Shut the fuck up, Jones."

The other swimmer rolls his eyes, "Don't get so worked up about it, Jackson. See you at State."

Annabeth plants a hand on Percy's chest to keep him from moving. Once the other guy is gone, she turns back to him and grins. It takes less than a second for him to smile back at her.

"You're amazing, you know?" Percy says suddenly, squeezing her into his arms again.

She hums and peeks up at him, "And apparently I'm eye candy too."

Percy starts laughing, and their friends swarm them then, congratulating him on the win and clapping him on the back. Annabeth pulls back from him, and he catches her hand before she can move too far away.

Ω

It's two weeks until the State tournament, and Annabeth hasn't gotten to see Percy in two days because he's been practicing so much.

But she is going over to eat dinner with him and Sally tonight, and then she hopes that he'll want to work on homework for a while or watch a movie or _something._ Annabeth misses him.

When she gets to their house later, Percy hasn't made it home yet. Sally is in the kitchen cooking dinner, and Annabeth learned a long time ago that she doesn't need to help, so she washes the dishes in the sink while Sally talks about her new novel.

Percy finally gets home a few hours later. He slumps into the kitchen, looking exhausted and smiling all at the same time. When he sees Annabeth, he tosses his arms around her shoulders and sinks into her.

"Hey," she says, rubbing her hands up his back and into his still damp hair.

"Hi," he breathes, burying his face into her shoulder. "I'm hungry."

Sally laughs, and Annabeth turns to see the older woman grinning at them. "Dinner's almost ready, Percy."

He pulls back from Annabeth, reaching up with one hand to trace his fingers across her jaw before turning away. His voice is rough as he says, "I'm gonna grab a quick shower before."

Annabeth nods, ruffling his hair as he turns away to head up the stairs. A few minutes later, dinner is finished, and Sally sends Annabeth up to get Percy.

She jogs up the stairs, calling his name as she steps into his room. He isn't there, but when she ducks her head into his bathroom, he's standing at the sink, clutching the counter and staring into the mirror. He has a towel hanging around his waist, and Annabeth can still see drops of water hanging to his tan skin. There's a weird expression on his face, one she doesn't see often enough to know what it means.

She leans against the door and tries to be nonchalant even though she can't exactly stop staring at him. "Dinner's ready."

Percy jumps a bit, turning his head to focus on her for a second. He nods, "I'll be down in a minute."

"You okay?"

Another nod, "'M fine, 'Beth."

She rolls her eyes at the nickname and slowly steps forward until she's standing beside him. She watches him gulp, which makes her smirk, and then she places a slow, languid kiss on his cheek. His hands tighten on the counter until his knuckles turn white, and just because he's getting so worked up about it, Annabeth trails her fingers down his shoulders and back before she turns and walks away.

Percy mutters, "Fuck," just in time for her to hear, and when he comes downstairs, his face is a bit redder than normal.

Ω

Later that night, they are laying in Percy's bed, watching a movie on his laptop. Annabeth is propped up against the headboard, and Percy has his head in her lap while she traces her fingers over his face and through his hair. His eyes are closed, like he's sleeping, except he smiles too often for him to actually be asleep.

Honestly, it's an accident when Annabeth traces her fingers over his lips.

But it's too late because Percy's eyes snap open, and even though Annabeth can feel her face getting red, she isn't sorry about it. Neither of them say anything, and Percy sits up slowly, leaning toward her closer and closer until the back of her head touches the headboard because he's so close.

He glances down at her lips. Annabeth's heart is pumping in her chest.

She can barely hear him when he whispers, "Annabeth."

When he leans a bit closer, the only thing that Annabeth can think is _fucking finally._

His lips never touch hers though.

Annabeth's eyes open from where they had fluttered close, and she sees him hesitating just a breath away from her. Even though her heart is screaming at her to grab him by the t-shirt and pull him in until she can kiss him, her head is screaming at her to wait, to think about this.

If Percy kisses her right now, she won't want to stop.

If Percy doesn't kiss her right now, she'll be stuck in this very frustrating state of being for another long period of time probably.

Percy also has a state tournament that is going to directly affect his future in the next few weeks.

Annabeth wants to kiss him _now._

She sighs and lifts a hand to set on his shoulder and push him back. She can see the disappointment in his eyes, but there's also relief. Annabeth doesn't know which one is worse.

His voice is rough, "Annabeth, I'm sorry."

She shrugs even though it feels like something heavy is sitting on her chest. She berates herself because he's _not_ rejecting her. But… but why does she feel like he _is?_

"I know."

"No," he says, clearly frustrated. "You don't get it."

"What don't I get, Percy?" She starts, trying to smother her irrational anger. "That you're too busy right now? That you don't want to be distracted by me?"

He moves until he's sitting beside her, their shoulders pressed together. "Annabeth, you know that's not—"

She sobers, looking over at him. "But it is, and you're right. We shouldn't—not when you…"

"We… we shouldn't?"

She gives him a look. "Percy. You've got more things to be worried about than a girlfriend."

He hesitates, and his eyes are blown wide as he stares at her. Annabeth realizes that it's the first time that they've acknowledged what's actually going on between them.

She watches as his eyebrows pull together in confusion, "But, you're way more important to me than swimming is, Annabeth."

Annabeth nods because even though his words make her feel better, he shouldn't be thinking that right now. "Yeah, I get that, Percy, and it's sweet, but you need to be focused on swimming. The state competition is two weeks away, and you… you shouldn't be distracted."

He clenches his fists and tears his gaze away, staring at the wall instead of her. He says, "And you think that we shouldn't… just because of swimming."

"Yeah."

"Annabeth, you're killing me."

She grins all of a sudden, reaching out to shove his shoulder. "Shut up, Seaweed Brain."

"I'm serious," he groans, dropping his head over to her shoulder and letting an arm twist around her middle so his hand rests on her side. "I just want to—"

"Want to what?"

He mumbles into her shoulder instead of answering her, and Annabeth bites back another grin.

"So where are we, Annabeth?" Percy asks tiredly, after a few minutes of silence. He's running his hand in small circles on her side, and Annabeth is pretending like she doesn't love it.

"Ask me again in two weeks."

Percy curses under his breath, and later, he falls asleep with his head on her shoulder and his arms wrapped around her waist.

Ω

"You guys are _what?"_

Annabeth hushes Jason's indignant cry because they're in the library and the librarian is giving them dirty looks now. After he's calmed down she says, "We're waiting until after swim season."

"To have sex?"

 _"_ _Jason!"_

He holds his hands up in surrender, but he's biting back a smile. "I'm just kidding, Annabeth. But what exactly are you guys waiting for?"

She feels her blush deepen, "I don't know. To date, I guess, I'm not—"

"And you guys talked about this?"

"Percy was the one who was whining about it," Annabeth says, looking down to her paper to avoid his eyes.

"So you just don't want him to be distracted? Because he should be focused on swimming?" When Annabeth nods, Jason's frown deepens. "But he already has a scholarship, Annabeth. It doesn't really matter if he wins or not."

She clenches her jaw and mutters, "To Alabama."

Jason is silent for a second, and then he says, "You want him to get another scholarship. That's why you're waiting."

A blush colors her cheeks because she didn't expect him to figure it out so quickly. She's just glad that Percy didn't when they were talking about it a few nights ago. She says, "And because he's worked so hard for this. He shouldn't be distracted by me."

"You know, he's probably more distracted by you when he's not really with you," he comments, looking back down to his paper too as the librarian inches closer to their table.

Annabeth refuses to answer him, and instead, she asks Jason about his plans to take Piper to Prom.

Ω

Jason's point is proven to be correct later that night.

Annabeth is laying on Percy's bed, laptop on her stomach as she scrolls through her email and tumblr. Percy's in the shower, and she's waiting on him to get out so they can watch a movie or talk or _something._ Since their conversation a few days ago, she feels like things have been weird between them, and she just wants everything to go back to normal.

Percy comes out of the shower a few minutes later, wearing a loose pair of sweatpants and an old, gray t-shirt. His hair is damp, and he shuffles over to his desk to grab his phone before he looks over to her.

He jerks to a stop suddenly, eyes widening and face reddening. Annabeth watches in confusion as his eyes flit over her, and then as his hands fist at his sides. When he sees her looking at him, he tears his gaze away from her.

"Are you alright?" She asks, leaning up a bit to get a better look at him.

Percy avoids her gaze, and his voice sounds weird when he says, "Um. Yeah, yeah, I'm good."

"You don't seem _good."_

"Well, I am."

She raises an eyebrow, "Okay."

He stands in the middle of the room for a few more seconds, staring at the opposite wall.

She breaks the silence. "Are you coming?"

He jumps at her voice, "Uh. What?"

Annabeth pulls the rubber band out of her hair to chase away the beginning of a headache. She ruffles her curls with one hand while she says, "Over here. Beside me. To watch a movie. Your head really is full of seaweed sometimes, isn't it?"

He stares at her. "I, um. I might just stay over here, you know? More room."

Annabeth glances at the empty bed beside her, wondering why he's acting like this. Usually, he would have already jumped on her, digging his fingers into her sides to tickle her and then brushing his knuckles against her cheek before snuggling into her to watch the movie. So why is—?

Is it because of what they talked about the other day? Is it because he knows that she has feelings for him and that she wants to date him? Does he not want to be close to her anymore because of that? What if he's changed his mind about it, but he doesn't want to tell her because he doesn't want to hurt her feelings? What if—?

"Is it because of me?" She blurts, feeling ridiculous the second it leaves her mouth.

Percy looks shell-shocked, frozen on the spot at her words. As if it pains him to do so, he nods slowly. A millisecond later, his eyes travel down her body again, and he jerks his gaze away, clenching his fists tighter at his sides and drawing a tight breath.

When Annabeth glances down at her legs, she realizes why he's acting like this.

After dinner and while he had been in the shower, Annabeth had changed into her pajamas, which just so happened to be a pair of short shorts and one of Percy's old swim team sweatshirts. The sweater was so big that it hung off of her shoulders, revealing the smooth skin of her shoulders. She had also ditched her bra, but she didn't think that Percy would have actually _noticed._

Annabeth slowly sets the laptop onto the bed beside her, then rises to her feet, pulling the sweater back up onto her shoulder so it will fall back down again. She carefully watches Percy as she takes a few steps toward him, biting back a grin at his gulp and how he keeps his eyes focused on the wall away from her.

She stops a breath away from him, looking up at him.

Percy shudders when she whispers his name.

His muscles are taunt, and he holds himself very still, as if to keep from reaching out and touching her.

Annabeth reaches up with one hand, lightly setting her fingers on his jaw and turning his head until he has to look down at her. His eyes settle on hers after a few seconds, and Annabeth reaches out with her other hand to tangle her fingers with his.

"'Beth," he mutters, taking a fraction of a step back.

She follows him until she's pressed up against his chest. Percy lets out a loud sigh, and then his arm wraps around her waist until he pulls her closer.

"You've seen me in less before," she murmurs in his ear, breathing a laugh when he flinches again.

"Not like this," he grumbles. "Not with you looking at me like that and laying in my bed and then knowing how you feel and—"

Annabeth starts laughing when Percy breaks off in frustration, letting his head drop down to her shoulder. She can feel his lips pressing against her skin now, and Percy shakes his head, letting his nose trace over her neck.

"Where's…" Percy starts a second later, hand tightening on her hip. "Shouldn't you have a…?"

She finally gets what he's talking about when he brushes a hand over her shoulder.

"No bra," she says with a smirk, crowding closer to his chest. "I already took it off."

"Goddamnit, Annabeth," Percy mutters. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"I can go ahead and take the sweatshirt off too, if you want," she says casually.

He clamps his hands to her sides to keep her from moving. "Don't you dare."

Annabeth laughs and pulls back from him, taking both of his hands in hers and smiling up at him. She says, "Calm down, Percy. We said after swim season, remember? I'll try not to jump you until then, okay?"

He gulps, looking at her with heavy eyes. "Good to know."

Ω

"Do you know that Percy hasn't stopped staring at you this while time?"

Annabeth jumps when Piper whispers into her ear, jerking her head back to look at her. Piper is smiling mischievously, like she's pleased with Annabeth's reaction.

"He has not," Annabeth mutters, looking back down at her phone. She's scrolling through her Instagram feed, ignoring the scary movie that they are watching. Their friends are all gathered at Jason's house to hang out. It's barely a week until the state swim meet, and Annabeth knows that they are trying to calm Percy's nerves.

He's been nervous over the past week, but the more he practices, the more it seems to fade. Annabeth wonders what's different because this time last year, his nerves were so bad he barely talked to anyone at all.

"He has," Piper argues.

Annabeth rolls her eyes, locking her phone and climbing to her feet. She ducks past Jason and Leo, who's laughing and pointing at the horrible effects on the movie to go to the kitchen and grab a bottle of water. Just as she's shutting the fridge, she feels a hand on her waist, spinning her around until her back is pressed against the cool metal.

When she looks up, Percy's hovering over her, bending his head down until his nose is barely an inch from hers. The expression on his face is becoming more familiar to her now that they've discussed their feelings, and Annabeth has almost decided that it's got something to do with her.

"Um, hi," she says softly, wondering what the hell he's doing.

He grins, dipping his head to press a soft kiss to her neck that has her shuddering under him. "Hey."

"What was that for?" Annabeth asks, a bit breathless at how close he is right now.

Percy shrugs and presses another kiss to her forehead before leaning back. "Nothing. Just for being you."

Annabeth bites back a huge grin and brushes past him, heading back into the room with their friends.

"Please tell me you guys didn't make out in my kitchen," Jason says absently, glancing up at them as they sit back down on the couch.

Their other friends explode in laughter, Percy's grinning, and Annabeth wants to stay right here forever.

Ω

It's the night before the state tournament, and Annabeth is jogging down the sidewalk to Percy's house to make sure he falls asleep tonight. The last thing he needs is to be awake all night and be tired tomorrow when he's swimming.

Annabeth lets herself in the house, greeting Sally with a hug before climbing the stairs. She makes the familiar trek to Percy's room, knocking gently on the door before slipping inside.

He has the lamp on his nightstand clicked on, fighting off the dark in the room. He's sitting on the edge of his bed, head in his hands. He's missing his shirt, wearing a pair of boxers as his pajamas instead.

Annabeth steps closer, nudging his legs open before curling her arms around him and drawing him closer. He's shaking a bit, but he stills after a few minutes in her arms.

She cards her fingers through his hair and trails her hands over his shoulders and down his back, listening to him hum against her chest. She wonders if he's feeling okay because he needs his strength for tomorrow.

"Want me to stay until you fall asleep?" She murmurs.

He shakes his head, brushing against her chest. His voice is deep and light at the same time when he says, "No, it's okay. You should go home and rest too."

She doesn't want to push him, so she leans down and presses a kiss to his forehead, whispering, "I'm so proud of you. You're going to do great tomorrow."

"I'll see you there?" He asks, looking up at her with wide eyes.

"Of course, Seaweed Brain," she laughs. "I'll be in the front row, screaming your name."

He grins, and Annabeth hugs him again before she heads home too. When she looks back up at his window as she gets to the sidewalk, the light is out in his room, and Annabeth smiles.

Ω

She talked to Percy on the phone when she woke up this morning, but she hasn't seen him.

It's the day of the state tournament. Annabeth and her friends are already in the gym (thankfully, the tournament is being hosted at their school), sitting in the front row of the bleachers so they will have the best seats.

"Hey," Jason says suddenly, setting a hand on Annabeth's knee. She hasn't noticed how much she has been shaking until now. "Calm down."

She scowls, "I'm excited."

Jason laughs, but then he's turning his head back to Piper and answering a question that she asked.

Annabeth pulls at the collar of her t-shirt. They all made shirts for today's tournament, and they're wearing them like the supportive friends that they are. Annabeth's shirt says 'Percy' in small, neat letters across her chest, while the others spell out his last name. Jason claimed the _J,_ Piper the _A,_ and so on. Leo stands next to Piper, then on his other side is Hazel and her new friend Frank, while Reyna and Nico finish up Percy's last name.

Annabeth's shirt also has _I love you_ written on the front of it, right underneath his name. She figures that he already knows it, so she might as well tell everyone else while she's at it.

The rest of the gym fills up quickly, and it's more crowded than any other competition has been. Several of the other teams have been competing for hours, but thankfully Percy swam earlier this morning to record his times so they don't have to sit through all of the other teams swimming. Percy is in the final bracket, competing for the state title, and Annabeth is biting her nails and hoping that Percy doesn't feel half as nervous as she does.

Finally, Percy and the rest of the team flood out of the locker room to compete. Percy's already wearing his competition face, and when he gets close enough, he scans the crowd for familiar faces.

The dark, broody expression disappears from his face the second he sees Annabeth and their friends. He smiles, laughing a bit as he makes his way toward the edge of the pool. His lifts his arm for a wave, and they all yell back at him, making him laugh even more. His coach pats him on the shoulder, and he's all business again, glancing up at Annabeth one more time before he looks back to the water.

It feels like forever while the other swimmers on the team compete against each other, and Annabeth grows more nervous as she watches Percy. He's flicking his gaze back and forth from the water to the score board hanging up in the corner of the gym, which puts their team in the lead right now. Even though Percy will have individual scores too, if he wins, the entire team will take the championship for their own.

Annabeth feels like she's going to throw up when it's time for Percy to line up to swim. His race is the last one of the tournament, and as he steps up on the diving board, the entire gym falls silent.

Percy looks up to Annabeth. She smiles shakily, showing him as much teeth as she can muster before yelling along with the rest of the crowd, who starts so suddenly, it startles some of the other swimmers. Percy breathes a laugh, turning his head back to the water and launching himself into it just as the gunshot is fired.

Time slows down. Annabeth and everyone in the gym is on their feet, screaming and shouting. Her heart is pounding in her ears through the first, second, and then the final lap, and Percy is way ahead of the others and then the timer blares and and and—

Their team explodes into yelling, and they reach forward, hauling Percy up out of the pool. He's grinning and pulling his goggle off, tossing them into the air and yelling along with his team.

Annabeth lets out a breath, reaching up to touch Jason's shoulder. He turns to grin at her, and then he's pulling her down the bleachers as they jog toward Percy.

He has a trophy in his hands now, but when he spots Annabeth, he hands it off to Will Solace, stepping toward her and opening his arms.

She throws herself into his arms, and he catches her easily, holding her up off of the ground so she has to look down at him. She cradles his face in her hands, leans down, and presses her lips to his.

She's barely aware of the applause around them because Percy's kissing her back intensely, holding her closer and closer, and _damn,_ she didn't know he would be like this. That _they_ would be like this. So perfect and easy and _amazing._

When he pulls back a few seconds later, the crowd is roaring in their ears, but all Annabeth is focused on is Percy. He's grinning up at her, reaching up with one hand to frame her face.

It's hard to hear him when he says, "I got a scholarship to NYU. For swimming. I'm going there in the fall."

Annabeth's heart stops because he has to be kidding with her. She has so many questions for him, but the only thing she can think to say is, "Percy, that's so close to—"

He cuts her off, and his voice is breathy when he says, "Six miles. It's only six miles from Columbia. I already checked."

There are tears in her eyes now, and Annabeth lurches back down to forcefully press another kiss to his mouth. Percy is grinning and laughing underneath her lips, but the only thing that Annabeth can think about right now is _them._ They're going to get to have this every day. They're going to be so close to each other.

They're going to be together.

Annabeth pulls back, and Percy reaches up with his hand, wiping the tears off of her face. His grin is huge when he says, "I love you."

"I love you too, Percy."

She kisses him again, and they stand in the middle of the gym, surrounded by sound and excitement and the only thing that Annabeth wants to focus on is Percy Jackson, her best friend and her _person._

Ω

One year later, Annabeth is standing in almost the exact same place. Of course, things are a bit different. But not by much.

Percy is a swimmer at NYU. He's one of the best on the team right now, even though he's also one of the youngest. He's majoring in Education, and he wants to be a high school teacher. Annabeth has been helping him keep up with his homework, and it's great to be able to use that time to get to help him and see him all at once.

She's at Columbia, in the Architecture program. She loves school, and she loves being close to Percy too.

They are at a swim meet now, actually, where Percy has just set a record for his new team. After he comes out of the locker room, Annabeth dashes down the bleachers, throwing herself into his arms and kissing him.

"Hi," he murmurs against her lips, pulling back enough to grin at her and say, "I love you."

Annabeth grins too, and she can't think of anything that's more perfect.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Leave a review!**

 **-SomethingMoreCreative**


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